Pakistan, resilient, clinical and
professional all through their current tour
of India, sacrificed those virtues on
Sunday (January 6), throwing away a
golden chance of completing the first
whitewash in India-Pakistan One-Day
International cricket.
The denizens of New Delhi had braved the
coldest day of the winter so far to fill
Feroze Shah Kotla, and they found their
warmth in a face-saving Indian win by ten
runs in a fascinating cricket match that
wasn't always of the highest standard but
which microcosmed everything the 50-
over game is about. India made a
spectacular defence of their modest 167,
cashing in on Pakistan's strange bout of
nerves and questionable shot selection,
to ensure that they kept the series margin
down to 1-2.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, having recovered
from a sore back that had threatened to
keep him out of the game, chose to bat
on winning the toss but another top-
order failure catalysed by continued
excellence from Junaid Khan and
unflagging persistence from Mohammad
Irfan reduced India to 37 for three. Saeed
Ajmal then chose the perfect time to
register his best ODI figures, five for 24,
as Pakistan ruthlessly cut off all escape
routes, sending India crashing to 167 all
out with a massive 6.2 overs left
unutilised.
There was enough in the conditions even
in the second part of the match to keep
the quicker bowlers interested, and
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed,
on debut after replacing Ashok Dinda,
exploited those conditions quite
beautifully. Bhuvneshwar picked up
Kamran Akmal, opening the batting
instead of Mohammad Hafeez who
sustained a finger injury while trying to
catch Dhoni off his own bowling, and
Younis Khan during an unchanged 10-over
burst of two for 32 while Shami was
distinctly unfortunate not to court any
early success as India were all over
Pakistan.
The threat in the bowling was backed up
by energy and enthusiasm in the field
where India were positively electric, but
that was briefly neutralised by the form
of Nasir Jamshed and the stabilising
influence of Misbah-ul-Haq. From 14 for
two, they steadied the ship with a stand
of 47, and Pakistan seemed to have
wrested back control, particularly with
Misbah adding a further 52 for the next
wicket with Umar Akmal, preferred to
Azhar Ali for the match.
A regulation chase was very much on the
cards at that stage when a mid-innings
collapse undid all the good work as India's
fielding touched glorious heights. Virat
Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina and
Ajinkya Rahane, coming in for Virender
Sehwag, were all spectacular, pulling off
one stunning stop after another, to
sustain the pressure under which Pakistan
finally cracked.
From being in total control, Pakistan lost
their way through the middle stages,
Jadeja turning in a wonderful spell of left-
arm spin bowling. In the end, it came
down to 23 off the last two overs, well
beyond even Hafeez whose brief flurry
ended when he smashed Ishant Sharma
to Yuvraj Singh at midwicket, triggering
delirium in the stands and overwhelming
relief in the middle as Pakistan were
dismissed for 157.
India were caught betwixt and between
when they batted, their recent travails
accelerating the germination of the seeds
of doubt. The desire to attack was
overwhelmed by the necessity for
survival, especially against Junaid who was
once again outstanding with his
tremendous skill and excellent control.
India brought Rahane in for Sehwag but
Rahane failed to seize his chance, falling
early to Irfan. Gautam Gambhir began
positively but strangely found the going
difficult as he spent more time in the
middle, while Kohli was all at sea against
Junaid, unable to fathom which way the
ball was moving and being repeatedly
beaten on the outside edge and inside.
It was in the fitness of things that Junaid
accounted for Kohli, eliciting an outside
edge smartly taken low at second slip by
Younis. By then, Gambhir had already
made his way back, half-heartedly waft-
swatting a short, wide delivery from Irfan
and unerringly picking out the point
fielder.
Yuvraj began in a blaze of boundaries but
closed the bat-face in Hafeez's first over
to lose off-stump, bringing Dhoni into the
middle with his team once more in deep
trouble. Dhoni had come in at 29 for five
in the first ODI and 70 for four in the
second. This time, the scoreboard read 63
for four, and he was again required to
rebuild the innings in the company of
Raina. The two added 48, by some
distance the highest partnership of the
innings, Dhoni smashing Hafeez for two
towering sixes and exhibiting the
aggression he had forsaken in the
previous games.
Raina took his time, content to bat in
Dhoni's shadow, and India were just
about starting to get their innings back on
track when the brilliance of Ajmal shone
through. Ajmal has had a largely quiet
tour, his three wickets in one over in
Kolkata notwithstanding. With India
threatening a recovery, Ajmal struck
paydirt, sliding one through to trap Raina
in front and then dismissing R Ashwin,
also leg before, with a sharply turning
offbreak the very next delivery.
As he has done throughout the series,
Dhoni kept the fight going until he cut Gul
hard but straight to Umar Akmal at point
to be dismissed in an ODI at home for
the first time in seven innings. Jadeja
lashed out towards the end but without
much support, India failing to bat out
their 50 overs for the second time in four
days.
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